good to hear cos i've read some mediocre reviews.

Getting it for christmas

It's got some wonderful stuff, eh?

I remember talking to someone on here a while ago who was looking forward to the Sufjan gig in Dublin. How did it go?!

Yeah I was keeping an eye out for that box-set before crimbo but never came across it, a shame as it would have made a nice change from the usual Wizard/Slade/George Michael/Pogues stuff that is usually repeating on our tellys and radios for the couple of weeks!

I was at Sufjan's Olympia gig in November and it was excellent!
From what I can remember, the show consisted of himself (piano/guitar/banjo) and 3 others swapping their duties on guitar, bass, keyboard and drums. Also a 5-man brass section that was superb.
The entire band came out wearing butterfly or moth costumes complete with large wings and face masks, not to mention the dozens of blow-up superman and santa dolls being flung about by himself in a high-spirited manner, which was rather entertaining!
They played a lovely set of songs. Some with full band, some with just Sufjan and there were numerous moments of atmospheric brass that sustained the packed Olympia audience. Every song (that I recognized anyway) was played with some nice variation on the original version, whether it be simply due to necessity or due to a conscious effort on his part to keep the songs fresh for himself, his band and/or the audience whilst on tour, all I can say is that it worked.
What stood out for me were Sufjan’s stories. He told various tales of his adolescence; getting lost in the woods on a trip to summer camp with a friend, where they came across ‘The predatory wasp of the palisades’, his crazy hippy parents and their ideas on changing the world and even his father nearly burning down their trailer when his giant night-bonfire got out of control. All these stories inspiring many of his lyrics. Yes he is a little nutty! Also he doesn’t look anything like he sounds.
My favourite tune on the night had to be Jacksonville, played either last or second-last when the band returned for an encore.
I highly recommend checking out his show the next time he’s in town.

Missed that damn gig, along with a million other folks that wanted tickets, sounded brilliant.

I got the box set off Itunes on Christmas Eve, a zillion songs for €18.99. It was on constant rotation over the three or so days of Christmas, my cousins loved it, my mum loved it, my holy friend loved it, and my indie friends loved it. And I loved it. Although I'm not sure I'm going to be able to listen to it from now until Dec 07.